Cotton

INTRODUCTION

Cotton today is the most used textile fiber in the world. Its current market share is 56
percent for all fibers used for apparel and home furnishings and sold in
the U.S. [1]. Another contribution is attributed to nonwoven textiles and
personal care items. It is generally recognized that most consumers prefer cotton
personal care items to those containing synthetic fibers. World textile fiber
consumption in 1998 was approximately 45 million tons. Of this total, cotton
represented approximately 20 million tons. [2]. The earliest evidence of using
cotton is from India and the date assigned to this fabric is 3000 B.C. There were
also excavations of cotton fabrics of comparable age in Southern America.
Cotton cultivation first spread from India to Egypt, China and the South Pacific.
Even though cotton fiber had been known already in Southern America, the
large-scale cotton cultivation in Northern America began in the 16th century
with the arrival of colonists to southern parts of today's United States. [3] .The
largest rise in cotton production is connected with the invention of the saw-tooth
cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793. [4] With this new technology, it was possible
to produce more cotton fiber, which resulted in big changes in the spinning and
weaving industry, especially in England.

2. COTTON CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION IN MILLION TONS IN

YEAR 2002

The graph bellow shows Production and consumption of leading cotton producing
countries in Millions of tones in year 2002 [5].

COUNTRIES PRODUCTION CONSUMPTION

US 3.8 1.7

India 2.5 3

Pakistan 1.8 1.9

Turkey 0.9 1.4

Brazil 0.7 0.9

Indonesia 0.4 0.6

 China 4.8 5.9

Today, cotton is grown in more than 80 countries worldwide. The Distribution of cotton
is shown in the bellow Map:
3. CHARATERISTICS OF COTTON

Cotton, as a natural cellulosic fiber, has a lot of characteristics, such as;

• Comfortable Soft hand

• Good absorbency

• Color retention

• Prints well

• Machine-washable

• Dry-cleanable

• Good strength

• Drapes well

• Easy to handle and sew

4. END USES OF COTTON:

 • Apparel - Wide range of wearing apparel: blouses, shirts, dresses, childrenswear,
active wear, separates, swimwear, suits, jackets, skirts, pants, sweaters, hosiery,
neckwear.

• Home Fashion - curtains, draperies, bedspreads, comforters, throws, sheets,

towels, table cloths, table mats, napkins

5. STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF COTTON FIBERS

5.1 FIBER STRUCTURE AND FORMATION

The botanical name of American Upland cotton is Gossypium Hirsutum and has been
developed from cottons of Central America. Upland varieties represent approximately
97% of U.S. production [4].

Each cotton fiber is composed of concentric layers. The cuticle layer on the fiber itself is
separable from the fiber and consists of wax and pectin materials. The primary wall, the
most peripheral layer of the fiber, is composed of cellulosic crystalline fibrils. [9] The
secondary wall of the fiber consists of three distinct layers. All three layers of the
secondary wall include closely packed parallel fibrils with spiral winding of 25-35o and
represent the majority of cellulose within the fiber. The innermost part of cotton fiber- the
lumen- is composed of the remains of the cell contents. Before boll opening, the lumen is
filled with liquid containing the cell nucleus and protoplasm. The twists and convolutions
of the dried fiber are due to the removal of this liquid. The cross section of the fiber is
bean-shaped, swelling almost round when moisture absorption takes place.

The overall contents are broken down into the following components.

5.2 RAW COTTON COMPONENTS:

80-90% Cellulose
6-8% Water
0.5 - 1% Waxes and fats
0 - 1.5% Proteins
4 - 6% Hemicelluloses and pectin’s
1 - 1.8% Ash

During scouring (treatment of the fiber with caustic soda), natural waxes and fats in the
fiber are saponified and pectin’s and other non-cellulose materials are released, so that
the impurities can be removed by just rinsing away. After scouring, a bleaching solution
(consisting of a stabilized oxidizing agent) interacts with the fiber and the natural color is
removed. Bleaching takes place at elevated temperature for a fixed period of time [1].
Mercerization is another process of improving sorption properties of cotton. Cotton fiber
is immersed into 18- 25% solution of sodium hydroxide often under tension [9]. The fiber
obtains better luster and sorption during mercerization.

After scouring and bleaching, the fiber is 99% cellulose. Cellulose is a polymer
consisting of anhydroglucose units connected with 1,4 oxygen bridges in the beta
position. The hydroxyl groups on the cellulose units enable hydrogen bonding between
two adjacent polymer chains. The degree of polymerization of cotton is 9,000-15,000 [1].
Cellulose shows approximately 66% crystallinity, which can be determined by X-ray
diffraction, infrared spectroscopy and density methods.

Each crystal unit consists of five chains of anhydroglucose units, parallel to the fibril
axis. One chain is located at each of the corners of the cell and one runs through the
center of the cell. The dimensions of the cell are a = 0.835nm, b = 1.03 nm and c = 0.79
nm. The angle between ab and BC planes is 84º for normal cellulose, i.e., Cellulose I [8].

5.3 REPEAT UNIT OF CELLULOSE

The current consensus regarding cellulose crystallinity (X-ray diffraction) is that fibers
are essentially 100% crystalline and that very small crystalline units imperfectly packed
together cause the observed disorder.

The density method used to determine cellulose crystallinity is based on the density
gradient column, where two solvents of different densities are partially mixed. Degree of
Crystallinity is, then, determined from the density of the sample, while densities of
crystalline and amorphous cellulose forms are known (1.505 and 1.556 respectively).
Orientation of untreated cotton fiber is poor because the crystallites are contained in the
micro fibrils of the secondary wall, oriented in the steep spiral (25-30o) to the fiber axis.

6. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF COTTON

6.1 FIBER LENGTH

Fiber length is described [7] as "the average length of the longer one-half of the fibers
(upper half mean length)" This measure is taken by scanning a "beard " of parallel fibers
through a sensing region. The beard is formed from the fibers taken from the sample,
clasped in a holding clamp and combed to align the fibers. Typical lengths of Upland
cottons might range from 0.79 to 1.36in.

Cottons come from the cotton plant; the longer strand types such as Pima
or Sea Island produce the finest types of cotton fabrics [18].

6.2 LENGTH UNIFORMITY

Length uniformity or uniformity ratio is determined as " a ratio between the mean length
and the upper half mean length of the fibers and is expressed as a percentage"[7]. Typical
comparisons are illustrated below.
 LENGTH UNIFORMITY UNIFORMITY INDEX [%]
Very High >85
High 83-85
Intermediate 80-82
Low 77-79
Very Low <77

Low uniformity index shows that there might be a high content of short fibers, which
lowers the quality of the future textile product.

6.3 FIBER STRENGTH

Fiber strength is measured in grams per denier. It is determined as the force necessary to
break the beard of fibers, clamped in two sets of jaws, (1/8 inch apart) [7]. Typical tensile
levels are illustrated. The breaking strength of cotton is about 3.0~4.9 g/denier, and the
breaking elongation is about 8~10%. [20]

DEGREE OF STRENGTH FIBER STRENGTH [g/tex]

Very Strong >31
Strong 29-30
Average 26-28
Intermediate 24-25
Weak <23

6.3 MICRONAIRE

Micronaire measurements reflect fiber fineness and maturity. A constant mass (2.34
grams) of cotton fibers is compressed into a space of known volume and air permeability
measurements of this compressed sample are taken. These, when converted to
appropriate number, denote Micronaire values.

COTTON RANGE MICRONAIRE READING

Premium 3.7-4.2
Base Range 4.3-4.9
Discount Range >5.0

6.4 COLOR

The color of cotton samples is determined from two parameters: degree of reflectance
(Rd) and yellowness (+b). Degree of reflectance shows the brightness of the sample and
yellowness depicts the degree of cotton pigmentation. A defined area located in a
Nickerson-Hunter cotton colorimeter diagram represents each color code. The color of
the fibers is affected by climatic conditions, impact of insects and fungi, type of soil,
storage conditions etc. There is five recognized groups of color: white, gray, spotted,
tinged, and yellow stained. As the color of cotton deteriorates, the process ability of the
fibers decreases.

Work at the University of Tennessee has led to color measurement using both a
spectrometer CIE-based average color measurement and a color uniformity measurement
using image analysis to improve the accuracy and provide additional measurement for
color grading [19]. Later the investigators developed two color grading systems using
expert system and neural networks.

6.5 TRASH

A trash measurement describes the amount of non-lint materials (such as parts of cotton
plant) in the fiber. Trash content is assessed from scanning the cotton sample surface with
a video camera and calculating the percentage of the surface area occupied by trash
particles. The values of trash content should be within the range from 0 to 1.6%. Trash
content is highly correlated to leaf grade of the sample.

6.6 LEAF GRADE

Leaf grade is provided visually as the amount of cotton plant particles within the sample.
There are seven leaf grades (#1-#7) and one below grade (#8).

6.7 PREPARATION

Preparation is the classer's interpretation of fiber process ability in terms of degree of

roughness or smoothness of ginned cotton.

6.8 EXTRANEOUS MATTER

Extraneous matter is all the material in the sample other than fiber and leaf. The classer
either as “light” or “heavy” determines the degree of extraneous matter.

6.9 NEPS

A nep is a small tangled fiber knot often caused by processing. Neps can be measured by
the AFIS nep tester and reported as the total number of neps per 0.5 grams of the fiber
and average size in millimeters. Nep formation reflects the mechanical processing stage,
especially from the point of view of the quality and condition of the machinery used.

7. CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF COTTON

Cotton swells in a high humidity environment, in water and in concentrated solutions of

certain acids, salts and bases. The swelling effect is usually attributed to the sorption of
highly hydrated ions. The moisture regain for cotton is about 7.1~8.5% and the moisture
absorption is 7~8%. [20]

Cotton is attacked by hot dilute or cold concentrated acid solutions. Acid hydrolysis of
cellulose produces hydro-celluloses. Cold weak acids do not affect it. The fibers show
excellent resistance to alkalis. There are a few other solvents that will dissolve cotton
completely. One of them is a copper complex of cupramonium hydroxide and
cupriethylene diamine (Schweitzer's reagent [11])

Cotton degradation is usually attributed to oxidation, hydrolysis or both. Oxidation of

cellulose can lead to two types of so-called oxy-cellulose [12], depending on the
environment, in which the oxidation takes place.

7.1 INSERT FORMULA OR EQUATION: OXY-CELLULOSE

Also, cotton can degrade by exposure to visible and ultraviolet light, especially in the
presence of high temperatures around 250~397° C [20] and humidity. Cotton fibers are
extremely susceptible to any biological degradation (microorganisms, fungi etc.)

7.2 OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF COTTON

Cotton fibers show double refraction when observed in polarized light. Even though
various effects can be observed, second order yellow and second order blue is
characteristic colors of cellulosic fibers. [10] A typical birefringence value as shown in
the table of physical properties, is 0.047.

7.3 COTTON CLASSIFICATION

Cotton classification is used to determine the quality of the cotton fiber in terms of grade,
length and Micronaire [1]. USDA [7] classification specifically identifies the
characteristics of fiber length, length uniformity, strength, Micronaire, color, preparation,
leaf and extraneous matter. In the past, these qualities were classified just by hand-and-
eye of an experienced classer. Since 1991, all classification has been carried out with a
set of up-to-date instruments, called "HVI"(High Volume Instrumentation) classification
[1]. However, measuring techniques of other qualities of cotton fiber, such as fiber
maturity and short fiber content, are also being developed.

7.4. COTTON IN NON-WOVENS

Cotton is the most important apparel fiber throughout the world. It is a fiber that was used
fairly extensively during the early, developmental period of the Nonwovens business
primarily because the emerging dry-laid producers came from the textile industry and had
an intimate knowledge of cotton and its processing characteristics [25].It was in the early
part of 20th Century that a few cotton mills in the US wanted to find ways to upgrade the
waste cotton fibers into saleable products. The first method used was bonding the short
cotton fibers (fiber waste) with latex and resin. These products were used mainly as
industrial wipes. After World War II, products like draperies, tablecloths, napkins and
wiping towels were developed. It was realized that woven fabrics have much better
properties than Nonwovens; so, the approach was to claim the market where superior
qualities of woven or knit fabrics were not essential but where qualities better than those
of paper were needed. As the quality requirements for nonwoven fabrics increased and
particularly as the need for white, clean fabric emerged; the use of raw cotton became
unacceptable and was abandoned by the industry except for a few isolated product areas.
Within the last decade, bleached cotton fiber suitable for processing on conventional
nonwoven equipment has become available and has substantially increased interest in this
fiber. This is particularly true in medical and healthcare applications, wiping and wiper
markets, and some apparel markets. The raw cotton consists of about 96% cellulose and
4% of waxes, pectin, and other pertinacious and plant material. These minor constituents
that must be removed in the scouring and bleaching process to give the soft, clean, white,
absorbent fiber that is satisfactory for the nonwovens industry after the application of an
appropriate finishing oil. The fiber length of cotton is important, particularly as to its
process ability. Longer staple cotton (0.75 in. to 1.25 in.) is satisfactory for nonwoven
production. The fiber has excellent absorbency and feels comfortable against the skin. It
has fairly good strength both wet and dry, and has moderate dimensional stability and
elastic recovery. But the resilience of cotton is relatively low, unless it is cross-linked by
a chemical treatment. In nonwoven applications, the purity and absorbency of bleached
cotton are utilized in growing medical and healthcare applications. The spun lace process
usually produces such fabrics. For similar reasons, cotton spun lace fabrics are well
accepted in personal and related wipes, especially in Japan and the ASIAN region. In a
sense, bleached cotton fiber for nonwoven application is a relatively new fiber. It is a
comparatively expensive fiber and available from only a few sources. Consequently, its
use still is restricted to specialized applications. This situation is likely to change in the
future as the price is further reduced and availability increased.

8. FIBER PROCESSING

About 30% of world cotton machines harvest production. Australia, Israel and USA are
the only countries where all cottons are picked by machines. Fifteen percent of world
cotton production is ginned on roller gins and almost all rest of cotton is saw ginned in
most countries [14].Cotton fibers in non-wovens are generally used in their bleached
form. A lot of research and development has taken place for the efficient production of
bleached fibers. The Kier bleaching process produces most of the bleached cotton fibers.
Since cotton of lesser grades is useful for non-wovens, a conventional cleaning system
does not suffice. This might include a coarse wire carding, called Cotton Master
Cleaners, for cleaning the cotton.

• The conventional bleaching method for cottons meant for non-wovens is a 9 step
process are:

a) Fiber opening and cleaning

b) Alkali scouring application
c) Alkali reaction stage
d) Rinsing
e) Bleach application
f) Bleach reaction stage
 g) Rinsing
h) Finish application
i) Drying

A continuous textile processing system and method have been disclosed recently for
producing a nonwoven web containing bleached cotton fibers in a single line system
which includes a supply of fibers such as a bale opening device, The final nonwoven web
consisting of bleached cotton fibers may be made into highly purified and absorbent
wipes, pads, and other articles for medical, industrial, or domestic use [17].

Finally, there is opening and bale formation.

• Cotton Incorporated patented a processing line, which promised better

productivity and quality. It consists of:

a) Fiber opening and Cleaning

b) Formation of web
c) Steam purging and Alkali impregnation onto the sandwiched cotton
web between 2 porous conveyors.

d) After reaction, a pressure squeezing operation.

e) Similar processes for bleaching and then finishing.

• The recent system for scouring a bleaching of cotton fiber is the Continuous Wet
Finishing Technique' patented by Lawrence Girard and Walter E Meyer and
assigned to Greenville Machinery Corporation. It consists of:

a. Opening and Cleaning

b. Conversion of fibers into a bat, weighing 10-30 ounces/sq. yard, by Needle

punching or Air-lay technique.

c. Scouring

d. Bleaching

e. Finishing

f. Washing

g. Drying

h. Fiber opening

Advantages of Continuous Finishing Techniques are:

a) Uniformity of scouring and bleaching

b) Uniformity of finish application
c) Shorter time in process for the materials
d) Lower water consumption and less effluent for treatment
e) The ability to provide additional chemical treatments to the cotton.

8.1. COST OF PRODUCING COTTON

The international cotton advisory committee (ICAC) undertakes a survey of the cost of
the production of cotton every three years based on the data from 31 countries. [16]
Several factors are considered, such as land rent, fertilizers, insect control, irrigation,
harvesting and ginning. The cost of seed cotton is more than $500 in USA to produce one
hectare of seed cotton. The net cost of producing lint from one hectare (the value of seed
and land rent were excluded from the total cost) is highest in Australia (US$1,056)
followed by the USA (US$889), Pakistan (US$814), Zimbabwe (US$426)
and China (US$416). It is most expensive to produce a kilogram of lint in
the USA (US$1.20), Australia (US$0.75) and china (US$0.48).

8.2. WEB PROCESSING WITH COTTON

Cotton fibers are used in the manufacture of nonwovens either alone or in a blend. The
various processes for the manufacture of non-wovens are:

8.3. HYDROENTANGLEMENT:

This method of bonding provides strength to the Nonwovens, comparable to woven

fabric of the same basis weight. This method yields high strength without interfering with
the absorbency, tensile strength and aesthetic properties of cotton. This type of
nonwovens can be wet processed like the conventional woven textiles for bleaching,
dyeing and finishing. To manufacture soft loose nonwovens, partially entangled webs are
produced by subjecting cotton webs to low water jet pressures (approx. 300-500 psi).
These types of webs can be wet processed in a pad/batch state. The limitations of this
process are that production has been limited to fiber blends because of problems in
recycling water and the quality of bleached cotton.

8.4. NEEDLE PUNCHING:

Needle punched cotton provides highly efficient filter media based on the irregular fiber
shape and absorption properties. Increased tenacity in the wet condition can be an
important advantage for cotton filters. To build strength, scrim materials can be used as in
bed blankets and industrial fabrics. Needles of 36-42 gauges have been found appropriate
for the production of cotton needle punched nonwovens. For very heavy fabrics, use is
made of gauge 32 and for finer fabrics 40-42 gauge needles are being used.

8.5. THERMAL BONDING:

In this process cotton webs with blends of thermoplastic fibers are passed between 2 hot
rollers (Calendar rollers). The thermoplastic fiber softens/melts and bonds the web. The
initial work was done with polyester as the thermoplastic fiber. Later polypropylene was
extended for the study because of economics, density and melting temperature
considerations. This was mainly to study the application as a diaper lining material.
Substantial work is still being done to develop this type of nonwovens.

8.6. OTHER BONDING SYSTEMS:

a. Impregnating the web with a resin or other adhesive material.

b. Stripping off of the web with adhesive, which bonds the fibers together at regular
intervals.

c. Stitch bonding: cotton web is stitched like in sewing and the product performance
depends on web weight, stitch/inch and type of sewing thread.

9. APPLICATIONS AND MANUFACTURERS OF COTTON NON-WOVENS

Cotton nonwovens are used as swabs, puffs, wipes, filters, weddings, personal care
products like in diapers & feminine hygiene products, semi-durable segments like
bedding, household furnishing, pillow fillers, etc.

9.1.MANUFACTURERS OF COTTON

• BARHARDT MANUFACTURING

• BBA NONWOVENS VERATEC

• BRANNOC FIBERS Ltd.

• COTTON INCORPORATED

• IHSAN SONS (PVT) LIMITED

• LEIGH FIBERS

• TEXTILES AND NONWOVENS DIRECTORY

10. RECENT RESEARCH

• New instrumentation to measure cotton contamination [21].

• Cotton linters to replace the traditional 100% wood pulp fibers for producing
absorbent cores for disposable diapers and famine pads [22]

• New quality measurements of small sample cotton are being developed [26

• Cotton is being blended with kenaf fibers to improve the softness and hand [27]

• Buckeye Technologies has developed 100% natural cotton for tampon

manufacture [29
 • Clustering analysis is developed for cotton trash classification [30]

• New method to improve the dyeability of cotton with reactive dyes. [31]

10.1 RECENT DOVELOPMENTS IN COTTON

10.1.1 COLORED COTTON

Cotton fiber is dyed with chemical dyes in order to get wide range of colors. These
chemical dyes and their finishing demands large amount of water in turn when these
water is disposed they cause soil and water pollution. Many dyes are of chemical origin;
particularly the azure ones and these are not environment friendly. Hence many countries,
including India, have prohibited use of these dyes.

The negative effects of dyeing can be reduced by naturally colored cotton. This colored
cotton is developed by gene transplantation. Crossing the genes from wild cotton
varieties with the cultivated white ones develops this colored cotton. The research is
being conducted at The University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad
Karnataka India, to promote the cultivation of natural colored cotton. The colors that
have been developed are White, Orange, Red, Yellow, Green, Purple, Brown, Blue, And
Black. These negative effects of dyeing can be avoided by extensive research and growth
of colored cotton. (33).

10.1.2. BT COTTON

Cotton requires severe pesticide in order to combat numerous pests after some years of
use of pesticide by farmers these pests develop resistance to Particular pesticide. This
resistance force farmers to use more amounts of pesticides. BT Cotton is developed by
transgenic technique of implanting Bacillus Thuringiens bacterial gene in to cottonseeds,
which makes the cotton plant and seeds resistant to majority of pests
including bollworm (A. Lepidoptera), Tobacco budworm (Heliothis virescens). Bt cotton
is now one of the most widely used transgenic crops. It is currently grown throughout
the United States. More than 2 million acres of Bt cotton are grown in the United
States alone. Other countries include China, India, and Australia. (34) According to Dept.
of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Arizona. Bt cotton planted from
1996 to 1998 is estimated to have yielded 5% more on average than if traditional and
decreased the quantity of foliar spray [35].

10.1.3 COTTON’S FUTURE TRENDS

The world's cotton fiber production is approximately 89 million bales [6]. In 1997, a
production forecast [6] shows that the U.S. is the largest cotton producer (18.4 million
bales), followed by China (17.5 million bales), India (12.8 million bales), Pakistan (8.0
million bales) and the former U. S. S. R. republics (7.7 million bales). Other important
cotton producers are Australia, Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Greece and
Mexico. The highest cotton consumption is attributed to China (21.2 million bales), India
(12.9 million bales) and U.S. (11.3 million bales).

SUPPLIES: The world production will increase a little bit. The 1998 U.S cotton crop is
best described as a disaster due to cool wet spring in the west and inadequate rainfall in
the southeast [24].

CONSUMPTION: World cotton consumption is lagging a bit behind production. After a

surge in the mid-1980s, world cotton consumption has been rather flat. But the long term
potential for cotton demand remains large [23].

All cotton plantings for 1999 are expected to total 14.6 million acres, 9 percent above
1998, and 5 percent greater than 1997. Upland cotton is expected to total 14.2 million
acres, up 9 percent from last year. Growers planted 318,200 acres of American-Pima
cotton. This is a 3% decrease from last year's number, but 27% higher than the acreage of
2 years ago. Planting in Georgia started extremely slow due to a severely dry spring, but
by June 1 was nearly on pace with average. Conversely, Texas experienced a near normal
planting season although some replanting was necessary due to wind and hail damage
[15].

11.Graph of World cotton area/World cotton yields/World cotton production/World

cotton consumption[11] Graph of Cotton Prices
12. CONCLUSION

Cotton nonwovens can be recycled, re-used or disposed off by natural degradation

conditions. Cotton is a readily renewable resource with long-term supply assurance.
Extensive research works is improving bleached fiber quality and quantity. Nonwoven
industries are producing various types of nonwovens with different manufacturing
techniques, for better production. Cotton share of the textile fiber market has been
steadily increasing and will continue to increase as cotton-containing items is preferred
by the consumers.